Friday, December 22, 2017

As you're interested in checking out the lists, just a comment: these are, IMHO, the most enjoyable CDs of 2017.

ALBUMS TOP40

40 albums from 15 countries:

9 from the USA4 from Canada4 from France4 from the UK3 from Germany3 from Serbia2 from the Czech Republic2 from Italy2 from The Netherlands2 from Switzerland1 from Begium1 from Hungary1 from Rumania1 from Spain1 from Ukraine

Other interesting stuff that has been issued in 2017: "Poxmen of the Horslypse - Tribute to Horlips", released by John Murphy (Shite'n'Onions) the second album by Canadian band Morgan, "Morgan Deli" (cow-punk at its best) and Gary Miller "Mad Martins" 50 track triple CD (review in January 2018. Stay tuned! )

Thanks again to all the bands for sending their stuff and special thanks to my mates Phil (PaddyRock), Scott (Paddys Home and Pub Podcast) and Mark (London Celtic Punks) for their friendship and support.

REMARKS

1) As usual, this post is titled as “the best of”. However, this is not a competition, but a sort of game. Remember that I give neither points, nor stars to the albums that are reviewed. I’d say that, IMHO, this is the list of the most enjoyable albums of 2015. It's a party!

2) This list is subjective, but not unfair: it covers the albums that I have enjoyed. Other lists are being posted on other sites and they'll be different. And I feel that diversity is good.

3) Important: please remember that it’s a list of albums, not a list of bands.

4) I've tried to be coherent. Everybody should know that I prefer original material to over-exposed standards.

5) Please remember that I'm only a fan. Maybe some albums are technically or musically better than others. I have taken into account catchy songs, fresh approaches, innovation and maybe I've given priority to raucous sounds rather than to polished sounds.

6) Yes, this is a Celtic Punk e-zine. Then priority has been given to Celtic punk bands, but you'll also find quite a few Celtic rock and folk punk bands.

7) Only the albums that have been received for review/airplay purposes and/or that have been shared for free by the bands have been rated. Other recordings were released in 2017, but unfortunately no copy was submitted or they got lost on their way to Spain.

8) This Best of 2017 covers the CDs that have been released from December 2016 to December 2017. As you can see, some CD were released in 2016. I’ve decided to rate them on the 2017 list ONLY after having checked that they were not reviewed on any other Celtic punk / rock e-zine in 2016. I’ve got them in 2017 and I feel that a lot of fans didn’t notice that those CDs were released before having read my review. Then, I’ve considered them as a 2017 release.

9) Neither live albums, nor covers albums have been taken into account. The same applies to compilations/best of albums.

10) To be at the bottom of the list doesn't involve that an album is rather poor. The difference between the 11th place and the 25th place would be a tiny nuance. The same applies to the places going from 26th to 40th.

11) Several songs from these albums have been added to the streaming radio along the year and they are regularly played.

13) To the bands: it’s extremely difficult to rank every recording and I guess that some people won’t be happy. However, I really appreciate and respect the hard work by every single band. The quality of all of the recordings has been very high!

These are the latest videos that have been added to our YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Facebook. Then you'll be able to watch all the new videos before they are posted here.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The O'Reillys and The Paddyhats "Sign of the Fighter" Metalville MVO129Release date: April 14, 2017Running time: 41:43, 13 tracks

Amost four years passed between “Sound of Narrow Streets” (2012) and “Seven Hearts One Soul” (2016). But it took The O’Reillys & The Paddyhats only one year to release their third album “Sign of the Fighter” (2017). The German band is clearly at its peak: two albums in a row and the latest one has been issued by the Metalville label. If you’re thinking that the guys signed a deal and went straightaway to the studio to record hastily whatever they had, you’re wrong. “Sign of the Fighter” is a solid effort: it has 12 songs + a spoken number. Most of the songs are self-penned material and there are only two covers. As usual, the packaging is top-notch: a 6 panel digipack that comes with a 16 page booklet. Let alone, the production, a brilliant work by Jörg Umbreit.

The O’Reillys & The Paddyhats have reached a huge following on the scene. They are able to write upbeat numbers like “Barroom Lady” and “Irish Ways”. As they are rooted in the German Celtic punk / rock scene, they also arrange the songs in such a way that they gather influences from other essential German bands. “White River” and “Ghost of a Soldier” have a Mr. Irish Bastard spin on the choruses. And the fiddling on “Sign of the Fighter” and “Bucket of Blood” reminds me of Paddy Goes to Holyhead. I don’t know if influence is the right word, because it involves that they have listened to those bands. Surely, they are familiar with Mr. Irish Bastard, but maybe not with PGTH. Anyway, I‘m not trying to say that The O’Reillys & The Paddyhats are a copycat or a wannabe band. I mean that there is a German Celtic punk / rock sound and The O’Reillys & The Paddyhats have succeeded in taking it to the top.

Apart from those amazing numbers, I’d like to draw your attention to a couple of songs. First of all, they have revisited “Paddyhats”, a badass song whose original version can be found on their debut album. Secondly, they have delivered a poignant rendition of Simon & Garfunkel “The Boxer”. Their fellow countrymen Across the Border included a kick ass version of “The Boxer” on their “… But Life is Boring Sir Without Committing a Crime” EP in 1997. Both versions are brilliant and totally different. Great choice for a cover.

The album is available on the usual retailers and on the band’s store. As always I strongly recommend to buy a physical copy, CD or vinyl.

These are the latest videos that have been added to our YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Facebook. Then you'll be able to watch all the new videos before they are posted here.

Sometimes we, the fans, are vampires for our favourite artists. We love a couple of albums and then we don’t want them to evolve. So, if they try something new, we turn our backs on them: their blood doesn’t feed us anymore. Flogging Molly are one of the gods on the Celtic punk Olympus. “Alive behind the Green Door”, “Swagger” and “Drunken Lullabies” helped to establish the genre. The band extended the scope of their music with “Within a Mile from Home” and “Float”. But “Speed of Darkness” was a huge change and a lot of fans, me included, didn’t appreciate that album.

Some years have gone by and I’m not going to have a retrospective look on “Speed of Darkness”. IMHO,Flogging Molly are the best live band in the Celtic punk genre (sorry Murphys), and therefore their “studio” sins can be forgiven.

The band from LA chose to come back to Ireland to record their latest album. “Life is Good” was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Co. Westmeath. These are the same studios at which “Float” was recorded. Apparently, Dave and the rest of the band wanted to recover the spirit of those sessions. I daresay that they succeeded, as “Life is Good” moves back from “Speed of Darkness” and the final balance is similar to that of “Float”.

As a fan loving the band’s early days, I’ve enjoyed particularly ”The Hand of John L. Sullivan”. This brilliant number is the closest song to the band’s Golden Age. But there are other kick ass songs. For instance “Welcome to Adamstown”, a song featuring Keith Douglas and Brad Magers from Mariachi El Bronx on trumpet. Or other cuts with a more mature sound. For instance, “Crushed (Hostile Nations)”. This number has a fantastic traditional sounding intro thanks to guest Neillidh Mulligan on uileann pipes, but the song evolves into something modern and really attractive. And “The Guns of Jericho”, where Dave does a great job on vocals.

Apart from those standout tracks, other numbers have a traditional/folkier feeling that makes them enjoyable songs. The arrangements and the performance are class on the opening number “There’s Nothing Left Part I”, on “Hope”, on “The Bride Wore Black” and on the closing track “Until We Meet Again”.

“Life is Good” won’t be maybe the album of the year, but it’s clearly a Top10 album and the comeback that all the fans were waiting for.

It’s no easy to develop your own identity in the Celtic punk scene. People often tend to think that there are some unwritten laws that force new bands to cover the usual standards and to be on the Flogging Molly’s camp or on the Dropkick Murphys’ camp. Fortunately, some bands try to find their own place and to offer something different to the scene. That’s what The McDrinkers have been doing for their earlier stages. The 5 piece band from Quebec, Canada, bets on their original songwriting and a fresh and young punk folk sound.

“Another Drunken Night” is the band’s third recording after their first EP under the name The Irish McDrinkers (“Welcome to WhiskeyTown”, 2014, 6 tracks and 20 min 49 sec) and their debut album as The McDrinkers (“Bring the Barrels”, 2015, 12 tracks and 46 min 17 sec). As you can see, their sophomore album is longer both in tracks and running time: 14 cuts and 53 min 33 sec.

Catherine Boivin (banjo, mandolin, guitar) and Jean-Benoit St.Germain (fiddle, background vocals) play the folk instruments, while new member Alex Tremblay plays electric guitar and sings backing vocals, front man Louis Deschênes plays bass and sings lead vocals and Dave Fortin plays the drums. “Another Drunken Night” has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Louis at the McDrinkers studio. The packaging is a four panel digipack with the line-up, track listing and song credits.

My fave tracks are “Zara Road” (perfect opening track), “Modern Buccaneers” (amazing pirate number showcasing mandolin and lots of hey and woah shouts that reminds me of the latest The Scarlet CD approach), “Fairytale Sip” (a catchy song with a great instrumental part at the beginning), “The Fire off” (a number with a Flatfoot56 spin), “No More Drink” (an infectious punk pop song) and “You’re a Fake” (upbeat song with a British fiddle folk punk sound). But another numbers are also very interesting: “The Ancient Malediction” (some Flatfoot56 and Fox’n’Firkin echoes), “The Promise” (a lively banjo driven song), “Mt.Forever” (amazing balance between fiddle and mandolin an electric guitar), “Field and Sorrow” and “Boardwalk”.

Hats off to McDrinkers for following their own musical path and keeping their own identity.

Rawlins Cross is the name for a convergence of streets in St. John’s, Newfoundland. But Rawlins Cross is also the name for the main Celtic rock band from Atlantic Canada. The band released their debut album “A Turn of the Wheel” in 1989, a blend of traditional tunes and songs written by brothers Dave (guitar, vocals) and Geoff Panting (keyboards,vocals). Apart from them, piper and tin whistler Ian McKinnnon from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was on that first line-up. Their second album, “Crossing the Border”, was released in 1992.

Their classic line-up was established in 1993 with the release of “Reel’n’Roll”: Dave Panting (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Geoff Panting (accordion, keyboards, backing vocals), Ian McKinnon (pipes, tin whistle), Brian Bourne (bass, chapman stick, backing vocals, from Halifax, Nova Scotia), Howie Southwood (drums, from Elora, Ontario) and Joey Kitson (lead vocals, from Prince Edward Island). Then, they released “Living River” in 1996, “Celtic Instrumentals” in 1997 ("a composite of instrumentals from previous albums and new tunes recorded especially for this project") and “Make it on Time” in 1998. All the albums were released by Ground Swell Records in Canada and “Living River” and “Make it on Time” were licensed to Magnetic Music in Germany.

Rawlins Cross went on hiatus around 2001 and they came back in 2008 with a best of called “Anthology” , which was followed by a new album titled “Heart-Head-Hands” in 2010. “Rock Steady” is their new 6 track EP after a second hiatus.

“Rock Steady” is the first cut on the disc. This kick-ass song written by Dave is the proof that Rawlins Cross are alive and kicking. “Rock Steady” showcases catchy chorus (“Is everybody ready? Rock Steady!”), Joey’s powerful vocals, Geoff’s accordion, Ian’s pipes and Howie and Brian on the rhythm section. However, the standout track on the album is “Hold You Tonight”. This lively number is a true gem, probably one of the best Celtic rock songs of 2017. Ian plays tin whistle and guest Julien Kitson (Joey’s song) plays tenor banjo. Curiously, this is the first song written for the band by Joey Kitson.

“Can’t Get You outta my Mind” was written by Brian. The sound is maybe different, I daresay that it has a The Doors spin, and it’s about “modern mass miscommunications by many modes”. Joey’s vocals are spotless.

Rawlins Cross move to their slower side on “Long Have we travelled”, “That Last Long Mile” and “Waltzing the Time Away”. The whistle is played on the first half of “Long Have We Travelled” but later the pipes arrive together with the electric guitar. This song was written by John Landry, Ian McKinnon and Geoff Panting. “That Last Long Mile” has great keyboards and tin whistle arrangements, and perfect drums by Howie. It was written by Geoff Painting, while “Waltzing the Time Away” was written by his brother Dave. Great song to finish up the EP.

“Rock Steady” is an interesting CD that old and new fans will appreciate. I miss one or two set of tunes, since I feel that they would have improved the EP balance. Anyway, I’m really happy that Rawlins Cross are back.

Track listing:

1 - Rock Steady 3:112 - Hold You Tonight 2:513 - Long Have We Travelled 4:544 - Can't Get You Outta My Mind 3:525 - That Last Long Mile 3:306 - Waltzing the Time Away 3:58

These are the latest videos that have been added to our YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Facebook. Then you'll be able to watch all the new videos before they are posted here.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Ferocious Dog "Red"Release date: November 20, 2017Running time: 40:39,11 tracks“Red” or “The Red Album” is the brand new CD by England’s best folk-punk band Ferocious Dog. Ferocious Dog are always on tour and most of their gigs are sold out. Maybe because of this hectic schedule, some line-up changes have taken place. The core of the band is still there, Ken on guitar and lead vocals and Dan on fiddle and vocals, together with Les Carter on electric guitar and vocals and John Alexander on bass. The new members are multi-instrumentalist John Leonard (bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, tin whistle, accordion, uilleann pipes and backing vocals) and Alex Smith (drums, percussion and vocals).

The band keeps on delivering its fiddle led folk punk with a Levellers touch, but the songwriting has evolved and other influences can be noticed

“Black Gold” is a song about slavery and the role of the British Empire. Both John and Dan shine on mandolin and fiddle.

A video was shot for “American Dream”, one of the album’s top numbers. Kick-ass song that reminds me of Tricks upon Travellers. “Spin” starts off with a catchy tune where tin whistle and fiddle play the major role. There is a bass and percussion passage that is followed by a tin whistle part. One of my fave tracks on “The Red Album”.

“Black Leg Miner” is the first cover on the album. A version of this song can be found on Steeleye Span's debut album “Hark! The Village Wait”. As It was stated on that album sleeve notes, “It is strange that a song as powerful and as singable as this should be so rare, yet it has only once been collected from a man in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in 1949”. Ferocious Dog’s rendition is spotless.

The next track is called “Together we are Strong” and will soon become one of your faves. Fantastic upbeat number with a reggae passage. Now the big question: would Ferocious Dog be able to write another song like “Slow Motion Suicide”? The answer is track no. 6, “A&B”. IMHO, the best song on the album. Dan sings lead vocals on this song about Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Fantastic number that makes me think of the Oysterband.

“The Enemy Within” kicks off with some martial drums and then tin whistle and fiddle join in before visiting the “Brighton sound” territory. Lively song to sing along and dance. Curiously, McDermott’s 2 Hours debut album was titled “The Enemy Within” too.

Les sings lead vocals on “A Place I Want to be”. It’s an interesting number, as it has a slower beginning with fiddle and acoustic guitar but later evolves into a fast-paced song

“Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya” gets the British fiddle punk treatment. This second cover is followed by “Small Town Hero”, a song with the Ferocious Dog’s classic sound. Lots of hey shouts on a song featuring uilleann pipes. The album finishes up with “Class War” a long reggae number featuring the “Farewell to Eireann” reel.

The CD has been produced by Phill Wilbraham and comes in a digipack with a 28 page booklet. As usual, the album has been recorded in loving memory of Lee Bonsall (1987-2012).

“The Red Album” is the logical step on Ferocious Dog's discography: they offer exactly what the fans are expecting. But, at the same time, the songwriting is more mature without becoming mellow. Enjoy!

There are a lot of Celtic punk bands in Germany. However, there are hardly any bagpipes punk bands. The Feelgood McLouds are the latest addition to the Germany bagpipes punk scene. If Die Dødelsäcke sing in their mother tongue and their sound is rooted in the German punk, The Feelgood McLouds follow a more international approach. They sing in English and love streetpunk and oi!The Feelgoods McLouds deliver 11 tracks in less than 27 minutes. Their self-titled debut album is an excellent bagpipes punk album that fans will enjoy. The first track is a tin whistle led intro that opens the path for the next cut, the catchy “Cheerio”. The sound reminds me of Bastards (on Parade). On “Sickness and Death” The Feelgood McLouds showcase their The Porters influences. This song features The Dubliners well-known tune “Sporting Paddy”. After three tin whistle numbers, the pipes appear on the next track, the fantastic oi! infused song “Year in & Year out”. Needless to say that it’s one of my faves.The Feelgood McLouds revisit again The Porters’ territory on “Sheer Whiskey”. Woll switches from bagpipes to mandolin. Track no. 6 is called “Mr. Radio”. Kick-ass mandolin driven song with a Rancid spin . “State of Unrest” was the first single and a video was shot for this song. Addictive chorus and once again a similar sound to Bastards (on Parade) thanks to the bagpipes.The speed goes down a little bit on “Beerbongs’n’Bourbon”, a song based on mandolin and tin whistle. Anyway, the fast-paced numbers come back and the last three songs are perfect. More pipes and gang vocals can be heard on “T.G.I.J.”. “Sailors” is a top-notch number à la Dropkick Murphys featuring “The Blarney Pilgrim” on pipes And, finally, the highest peak is reached with the band’s second single and video, the anthemic bagpipes number “Never Stop”.Matze (drums), Woll (bagpipes, mandolin, whistles), Günther (vocals, tin whistle), Denis (guitars) and Schirra (bass, vocals) have released a brilliant debut album. My advice: get a copy, grab your favourite beer and sing along!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

These are the latest videos that have been added to our YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Facebook. Then you'll be able to watch all the new videos before they are posted here.

Their debut album is titled “One Brew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. The title is based on the Ken Kesey’s book “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. A movie was shot in 1975 and Jack Nicholson got his first Academy award. Then, I daresay that Cassidy’s Brewery are taken a Jack Nicholson approach.

The final result is quite good. The five originals are top-notch and the 5 covers get the Cassidy’s Brewery treatment. Unfortunately, most of them are overexposed standards. The set of tunes “Loboscouse” is my fave. The lads have chosen “The Fermoy Lasses” (Irish Stew of Sindidun added recently this reel to one of his songs too) and “The Musical Priest”. “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” and “Ye Jacobites by Name” have been arranged in the right way while “Rolling Down to Old Maoui” sounds similar to The Dreadnoughts rendition.

The self-penned songs are the proof that Cassidy’s Brewery’s future is bright. The opening numbers “Sail Away” and “Old Man’s Bones” have a Celtic punk sound that can rival with the best German bands, thanks to the fiddle and the accordion. “Heroes” was the first track that we ever heard by Cassidy’s Brewery. They released a video clip for this excellent track some months ago. Finally, “Punkchevo” and “Mariner” are a couple of punk goes metal songs.

“One Brew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is available at Bandcamp as a Name Your Price download, and the lyrics to all of the songs can be found there too.

Irish Stew of Sindidun have recently released “City of Grigs”, their fourth studio album and follow-up to their CD from 2011 “New Tomorrow”. Ana Milanovic left the band and the current fiddler is Nemanja Jovanovic. Apart from this line-up change, Irish Stew of Sindidun have released their new album with a new label, Ammonite Records.

“City Of Grigs” comes in a jewel case with a 16 page booklet. Ten songs have made the album, which is an interesting Celtic pop-rock work. There are seven original numbers and three covers. Regarding the original songs, five have been written by the band leader Bojan Petrovic, one by Bojan and fiddler Nemanja and another one by Dejan Grujic. The production is excellent and the sound is based on fiddle banjo and tin whistle.

Bojan’s songs are the tracks no. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8. “Stranger” is a fantastic opener that sets the pace for the rest of the album. “Heavier than Sin” was the first single from the album. A video clip was released for this song that features “The Fermoy Lasses” reel at the end, a tune that The Dubliners used to play together with “Sporting Paddy”. “Awake” has a livelier beginning and the banjo-fiddle-whistle tune is spotless too. “Holiday” has a Christy Moore spin. And “Emerald Blue” is a kick-ass Celtic pop-rock number.

“The Old City Keeper” is the only instrumental on “City of Grigs”, but I’s one of the highlights on the album. It has a funky touch that reminds me of Canadian band Mad Pudding. Hats off!

“Drink and Sing” is probably the most upbeat cut on the CD. This number was written by the Orthodox Celts bassist Dejan Grujic. As you probably know, Bojan joined the Orthodox Celts around 2011 and played the whistles till 2016.

Finally, Irish Stew of Sindidun deliver 3 covers too. My fave is Peadar Kearney’s song “Down by the Glenside”. Many bands insist on covering the same The Dubliners / The Clancy Brothers songs. However, Irish Stew of Sindidun have proved that there are other gems that should be re-arranged. “Paddy’s Lamentation” is another good choice and, IMHO, “Step it out Mary” is maybe the softer cover of the three.

“City of Grigs” shows a different side of Irish Stew of Sindidun. The band’s sound is easily recognizable, but they have pushed it to a calm direction. They have taken The Corrs folkier moments and added some drops of Capercaillie and Four Men and a Dog to the mix. The final result is an amazing Celtic pop-rock album.

These are the latest videos that have been added to our YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Facebook. Then you'll be able to watch all the new videos before they are posted here.

Barleycorn Bastards are a five piece band hailing from Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The band was established in 2013 and the line-up is Sid (guitar, vocals), Maarten (tin whistle, vocals), Martin (drums, vocals), Niels (bass, shouting) and Elmar (banjo, backing vocals). I had never heard of them, but recently the guys from London Celtic Punks posted on their facebook that Barleycorn Bastards were touring England. Then I found that they had released a 5 track EP in 2016. I was really impressed and therefore I decided to write an EP review.

The Barleycorn Bastards EP is titled “Hops & Dreams” and is based on covers. However, the lads have chosen songs that are not overexposed (tracks 2 and 4) or have given a new spin to some well-known standards (tracks 1 and 5).

The first track on the EP is “Nancy Whiskey”. The Barleycorn Bastards' approach reminds me of an Australian band that I reviewed some months ago, Sailors Grave. Apart from that, the tin whistle gets an “in yer face” treatment that reminds me of The Skels.

Some people will be familiar with the next number, “Bully Boys”, as it was featured on the "Robin Hood" movie with Rusell Crowe and ex-Great Big Sea member Alan Doyle plays this song on their brand new album. Electric guitar, banjo and tin whistle will make you enjoy this cut.

The following song, “Banjo Breakdown” is a fast-paced number with yeeha shouts and addictive banjo and tin whistle.

The banjo starts slowly on the shanty “Coast of High Barbary”. But the band goes mental on the second half of the song which is led by a manic tin whistle.

The last song on the album is “All for me Grog”. The banjo intro sounds similar to a song by their fellow countrymen Drunken Dolly, but the song evolves into a Dutch answer to The Skels.

“Hops & Dreams” is available as a Name Your Price download on Bandcamp. Besides, three songs are on rotation on Celtic Folk Punk radio since November 2.

After having listened to this brilliant EP, I’m looking forward to hearing the debut album by these lads.

The Green Duck is a French three piece band: Grégoire Butaeye (fiddle and background vocals, from Brittany) Laurent Réval (lead vocals, harmonica and drums, from Montepellier) and Lionel Fouchet (guitar, mandolin, background vocals, from Paris). This is the official line-up, but often they are joined by a banjoist and a bassist.

Their first CD was a mini-album released in 2015. That mini-album consists of 5 studio tracks and 3 live tracks. The studio tracks were recorded and mixed by Steph Legrand, who also played the bass on the first track. The live tracks were recorded by Bertrand Truptil.

The Green Duck set-list is based mainly on Irish standards, but there is enough place for the odd bluegrass number, some celtic style covers of rock classics and some originals. Then, the track listing on their first CD follows the same approach.

The mini-album kicks off with “Blow it away”. This amazing song was written by Laurent. It’s more bluegrass than Celtic, and guest Manu Bertrand plays dobro and banjo.

The next three numbers are Irish standards: “Drunken Sailor”, “Step it out Mary” and “Whiskey in the Jar”. These songs have been covered by a lot of bands, but the arrangements are top-notch. “Drunken Sailor” features the tune “Drowsy Maggie”. "Step it out Mary” has a beginning that reminds me of Louise Attaque, together with interesting fiddle arrangements and backing vocals. “Whiskey in the Jar” has some appealing fiddle arrangements too.

Track no. 5 ("Around the World") is the kind of number that I love: a kick-ass set of tunes. The three members do a great job.

The last three tracks are the live ones. Jean Marc Delon plays the banjo while Billy plays the bass. “Dirty Old Town” is played with gusto. “American Land” is a badass number too. “Highway to Hell” gets a country spin and the final result is awesome.

Two years later, The Green Duck have released their second mini-album. Once again, there are 8 tracks, but all of them are studio takes. “On the Rise” is the first cut on their second CD. It has been written by Laurent Réval (lyrics) and Lionel Fouchet (music) and recorded and mixed by Steph Legrand. After listening to this gem I keep on wondering why these guys have not recorded more self-penned stuff.

The other 7 tracks on the mini-album were mixed and mastered by Lionel Fouchet. Even if they have been recorded at the studio, all of them have a “live” spirit. Regarding the standards, I’ve enjoyed their renditions of “Johnny I hardly knew Ye”, “The Foggy Dew” and “The Raggle Taggle Gypsy”, because the arrangements add something new.

Fortunately, there is a set of tunes on this new CD: “Paddy on the Turnpike and Tommy’s Tarbukas”. Maybe another set of tunes instead of a cover of a pub standards would have been better for the tracks balance.

The Green Duck’s second mini-album is over with “Hush Little Baby”. No, it’s not a cover of The Men They Couldn’t Hang's song, but the well-known lullaby. Weird choice, but it works.